April 19, 2005

UnAmerican

Ugh, no, please stop. I love the American Prospect, it's a wonderful magazine, but for Christ's sake, there's no reason to call Tom DeLay "un-American" on the cover of their latest issue. There are the creepy McCarthyist overtones, yes, but leave that aside for a second. The very concept of calling someone "un-American" is sheer nonsense. Is there any other country on earth that bandies about un-"X"ian as an insult? Not that I know of; it would probably sound odd for people abroad to hear "Putin is un-Russian" or "Koizumi is un-Japanese." No one else does it. Now obviously there are perceived differences here—the conceit being that Russia and Japan are mere nations while America is a concept, a way of life, an ideal—but come on.